


Just Flowers and A Hug

by BlazinButterfly



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Nathalie Sancoeur-centric, One Shot, Romance, Roses, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Valentine's Day, gabenath
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29573340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlazinButterfly/pseuds/BlazinButterfly
Summary: It's Valentine's Day and Nathalie's morning is off to a rough start. However, an unexpected gift changes her day for the better.
Relationships: Gabriel Agreste | Papillon | Hawk Moth/Nathalie Sancoeur
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30





	Just Flowers and A Hug

**Author's Note:**

> This fic takes place sometime during late season 3.
> 
> This ended up being a tiny bit longer than I intended, oops. I got a little carried away because I love writing for Gabenath. Anyways, this is my first time posting a fic to AO3. I hope you enjoy it!

Nathalie was walking down the stairs into the foyer of the Agreste mansion when she pulled out her phone to check the time. 

6:55 AM

Five minutes ahead of schedule… She preferred to be a bit more ahead than that, and she usually was, but her declining health granted her a few setbacks this morning. A painful coughing fit and a headache had forced their way into her schedule as soon as she woke up, leaving her feeling sluggish.

Her eyes then shifted down to the date. She let out a loud sigh. 

February 14th.

In the midst of her rough morning, she _almost_ had the luck of forgetting what day it was. _Almost._

In the past, she never paid attention to when it was Valentine’s Day. She never cared for it, plus, she was always too occupied with work to even notice it. Not that she ever had anyone to celebrate it with... But this year the holiday came with a strange sensation of loneliness that she assumed was all due to the confusing feelings she harbored for her boss. Feelings that were completely out of her control no matter how hard she tried to push them away. 

Nathalie shoved her phone back into her pocket and straightened her posture as she approached Gabriel’s office. Hopefully, the day would pass by quickly with all the work she needed to get done. 

She pushed through the door and looked to her right to see Gabriel working at his computer. He immediately took notice of her presence and turned his attention away from the screen to look at her. 

“Good morning, Nathalie,” He happily greeted with a small smile, ...a genuine one. It took Nathalie by surprise, causing her to stop. When was the last time she saw him smile? 

She thought today of all days would be difficult for him ...But Gabriel was a strange man, to say the least. Perhaps he had a grand plan prepared for seizing Ladybug and Cat Noir’s Miraculous today, perhaps today would be the day they brought Emilie back. 

“Good morning, sir,” She replied with a nod, smiling back at him.

She went to her desk and before she even had a chance to turn her computer on or sit down, she came to a halt once again, a subtle gasp escaped her lips.

A fresh bouquet of red and pink roses sat on her desk in a glass vase. 

She stood there attempting to mentally grasp what she was looking at. It didn’t make sense to her. Who would get her flowers? She didn’t really communicate with anyone outside of work. The only explanation would be a stalker. Just the thought of that made her skin crawl. If that was the case, she definitely needed to keep a better eye on her surroundings when she went out in public. 

“S-sir, where did these flowers come from?” She swiftly turned to face her boss. 

“Hmm?” He hummed, glancing over the screen to look at her. 

“These flowers. If they’re a gift from a stalker I want nothing to do with them,” 

Gabriel started chuckling. ...He rarely ever laughed. Clearly, he knew something about this but was withholding it from her. His light chuckles came to a stop when he moved away from his computer and started walking towards her desk.

“If they were from a stranger, I certainly would have consulted with you first before putting them on your desk,” 

She sighed in relief, but that still didn’t answer her question. 

“Then who are they from?” 

A moment of silence passed before he spoke.

“They’re from me, Nathalie,” He said so nonchalantly. A touch of unfamiliar sweetness in his tone as he flashed a soft smile at her. 

“They’re from you?” She repeated, stunned. 

Her heart started to pound. She had to be losing her mind. She couldn’t have heard him correctly. There was no reason for her boss to get her flowers or anything on Valentine’s Day. Perhaps one of the side effects of using a broken miraculous was hallucinations? 

“Read the note.” 

Note? She looked at the vase again and this time she spotted the little pink card laying right next to it. She quickly picked it up and read it.

 **_To: Nathalie  
_ ** **_From: Gabriel  
_ ** ******_Happy Valentine’s Day._**

It was all written in his handwriting… and there was a hand drawn heart at the end. She swore her own heart skipped multiple beats. This was all very real. She looked up from the card to meet Gabriel's tense expression, waiting for her reaction. An uncontrollable smile came to her lips as she gazed into his grey-blue eyes. She placed the note back on her desk, making a mental note to put it in a safe place later with full intentions of keeping it. 

“I wasn’t sure what kind of chocolate you prefer so I decided to order you some of the finest roses I could get my hands on. I do hope you like them,” he said.

Any gift from him meant the world to her, but she couldn’t tell him that, could she?

“I… I do.” She stammered. “They’re beautiful. Thank you, sir.” 

A small sigh left Gabriel’s lips at her reaction as they continued to smile at each other. Suddenly he didn’t seem as tense as he was a minute ago. 

“But why did you get me a gift for Valentine’s Day?” She asked. As if being given a reason was important. It wasn’t, but her curiosity got the better of her. 

He moved closer, leaving only a few feet between them. His gaze became more intense than it was seconds prior. Which only made her heart beat even faster than it already was. 

“I know I don’t say it quite as often as I should… but I want you to know I appreciate everything you do for me every day.” He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “There are no words to properly thank you for everything, Nathalie.” 

As he spoke it seemed the expression on his face grew softer with each word and his subtle smile grew a little wider and much more obvious. 

“I also want you to know that you mean so much to me.” A sudden shyness coated his words. His eyes drifted away ever so briefly before meeting with hers again. “I can’t imagine what I would ever do without you.”

Heat rushed to her cheeks and spread across her face and neck like wildfire. She wasn’t expecting him to say any of that. It was like music to her ears.

“...Thank you, Gabriel. T-that means a lot to me,” She stumbled over her words. Although she couldn’t see her own face, she knew her face had to be as red as the streak in her hair. Getting flustered over your boss wasn’t a pretty look. It was embarrassing. Especially when he was right in front of you. 

Gabriel then moved even closer and brought her into a hug. At first she was a ball of nerves, completely tense as her face pressed to his chest. But she soon found herself wrapping her arms tightly around him and melting into his embrace as if it was natural. 

She wanted to cherish this moment. Cherish the feeling of his chin atop her head, cherish the feeling of his arms holding her tight, and cherish the fact that he thought of her today and got her a gift. Something like this was very unlikely to happen again and she didn’t want to get used to it and set herself up for heartbreak.

But that wouldn’t stop her from cherishing any of it. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Nathalie,” He spoke softly, interrupting her thoughts. 

She found herself tensing up once again, pondering if it was appropriate to say it back to him. 

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” she replied before she could put any more thought into it. 

They stayed wrapped up in each other’s arms for quite a while, probably a lot longer than they should have before they mutually parted. As they pulled away from each other, Nathalie found herself caught up in his gaze once more. He was smiling at her again. A similar smile to the one he had on his face when she first walked into the room: Soft and genuine. She simply couldn’t look away.

...No, don’t get too comfortable. It was just _flowers_ and a _hug_ **_._ **Nothing beyond that. 

Nathalie broke eye contact first with her eyes shifting towards the shiny marble floor. She awkwardly broke the silence by clearing her throat. 

“...You should get back to work, sir.” She looked at him, hoping that her face wasn’t still stained with a blush. “You have a meeting to attend at 10:15 and I would presume you have work you’d like to get done before then.” 

He nodded, his face returning to a more serious expression that she was used to seeing every day. 

“You’re right, of course.” 

With that, they both went about their regular daily activities. 

For the rest of the day, Nathalie was on a happy high in spite of the lingering headache she had. Her good mood allowed her to work more efficiently and resulted in her finishing all her tasks for the day a few hours earlier than usual. Ideally, she would’ve used this rare free time to indulge in a book or watch a movie or two, but as soon as she went up to her room she kicked off her heels and laid down, falling asleep almost immediately. Too exhausted to bother changing into her pajamas. That became her new normal since being sick. 

But despite her current circumstances, Valentine’s Day most definitely went well for her this year and it would never be forgotten.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
